Roman and Greek Medical Ideas

Roman and Greek Medical Ideas

There was a great deal of continuity between the medical ideas of the

Greeks and Romans, but there was also some change. Although the Greeks

were the first to suggest that the Gods did not cause and cure

illness, there were still some believers in 'faith healing'. This was

the same in the Roman times. A prime example of this belief is when

the plague hit Rome in 295 BC. The people were beginning to get

desperate, after they had tried many herbal cures, so they decided to

turn to their Goddess of health, Salus. They prayed to her, and when

she didn't appear to answer they turned to the Greek God of healing,

Asclepius. They built a temple to him and when they prayed for his

help, he appeared to answer, and the plague edged away. This is

probably because as they cleared the ground to build the temple, they

would have cleared and burnt the plague virus away. Also when you went

into an Asclepion, you often had a bath and were cleansed. The Greeks

also believed that Asclepius healed them, and there are many stories

of these miracle cures. The Majority of these were probably

stress-related diseases, and as going to the Asclepion was a very

relaxing experience, they were cured. Also, another reason for the

cures was because they also used herbal remedies in the Asclepion.

A lot of Greek methods were used when it came to the treatment and

care of patients as well. The Romans carried on the idea of

observation when treating patents, and they carefully recorded what

happened to the patients, so future doctors could cure their diseases.

This was very useful, as we still use this today. They also used herbs

as their main form of medicine, which is what the Greeks had done.

They used a lot of the same remedies as they still followed the books

of Hippocrates, which contained many remedies and also general advice

on how to care for patients.

Greek and Romans both believed in the theory of the four humours.